Nights for Tuesday 29 July 2025

8:10 Historians at sea

We may be living in historic times but it's a bad time to be a historian.

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is disestablishing four of its five senior historian roles, to try and save money to meet new budget targets.

These historians are people who maintain the official record of New Zealand: websites like Te Ara, the New Zealand Encyclopedia and NZHistory.net.

Former Chief Historian Jock Phillips is also a former general editor of Te Ara. He joins Emile to discuss what some have called a 'war on history'. 

8:25 The House

Tonight on The House, Phil Smith reports on the possible changes to Parliament's Question Time.

8:30 Live from the 2025 Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards

Emile Donovan crosses to the glitz and glamour of our nation's pie awards to congratulate a gold category winner.

8:40 Shower Thoughts: How do you get a patent?

Every Tuesday, we find experts to answer curious questions about the world and how it works.

Leading patent attorney Matt Adams, a partner at trans-Tasman intellectual property firm FB Rice, joins Emile Donovan from RNZ's Wellington studio to explain how you get a patent, how they're enforced, and why you might need one.

9:05 Nights Quiz

Do you know your stuff? Come on the air and be grilled by Emile Donovan as he dons his quizmaster hat.

If you get an answer right, you move on to the next question. If you get it wrong, your time in the chair is up, and the next caller will be put through. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the run goes in the draw for a weekly prize.

9:25 The declining rate of cousins

It's common to talk about the declining birth rate and the impact this might have on children growing up with fewer, or perhaps no, siblings. Less considered is the flow-on effect this has on the wider family structure: such as the decline in the number of cousins.  

In generations past it was much more common to not only have cousins but to grow up with them, forming bonds that could be just as significant as those between siblings.

So how does this change re-shape our society and traditional support networks, moving forward? 

Professor Dan Woodman, a sociologist from Melbourne University - who himself has fourteen cousins - joins Emile Donovan. 

9:45 Pacific Waves

A daily current affairs programme that delves deeper into the major stories of the week, through a Pacific lens, and shines a light on issues affecting Pacific people wherever they are in the world. Hosted by Susana Suisuiki.

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10:17 The Detail

Rights groups are concerned a government spotlight on terror laws will see protest, freedom of speech and advocacy endangered. Amanda Gillies reports.

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10:45 The Reading

Part two of "The Trouble Begins at Eight" recalling Mark Twain's visit to New Zealand in 1895. Not that he had a great opinion of travellers.

11:07 Worlds of Music

Trevor Reekie hosts a weekly music programme celebrating an eclectic mix of trans global music, fusion and folk roots.